Month: September 2016

Congratulations to the Netherlands parliament’s brave decision to close down their coal industry.

Thank you to #ClimateChance and partner for organising this important stakeholder event in Nantes.

Thank you, to the Habitat III Panel discussing the #NewUrbanAgenda (NUA) in this climate forum – “On the road to Habitat III, what is the place for proposals from non-state actors?” (28/09/16, 9-11 am)

It was mentioned that 15 of the paragraphs of the New Urban Agenda addresses cities and climate change. Economic growth and development is mentioned as many times! While half the world is trying to stop the petroleum companies from drilling activities.. These two polarised position doesn’t match!

The NUA’s responsibility is to make cities divest from fossil energy and reinvest in urban sustainable opportunities.

We stress the importance of the use of funds mobilized by climate action, both mitigation and adaptation, for the development of sustainable cities and rural territories, considering that the New Urban Agenda that will be adopted by the UN member States during Habitat III Conference in Quito in October 2016 should show territorial coherence respecting the various global challenges we face.

WORLDWIDE LED RESPONSIBILITY

Light affects our health and well-being in many ways. White LED’s with blue-rich spectra are being rolled out over the country at an alarming pace, often without proper health or environmental impact assessments. These white LED’s are detrimental to human and wildlife circadian rhythms as well as the view of our night sky. 1,2,3 , Urgent action is needed to ensure installation of LED lights use a warm-white Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) ideally 2700K for the benefit of Public Health, Ecology, Road Safety, and Sky Glow.

“Lighting planners and policymakers in local government nowadays need to be very careful in choosing the light class as low as possible, in order to avoid unnecessary over sizing, in using Constant Light Output for luminaires, avoiding cold temperature of LEDs and, above all, seizing the importance of using lighting control systems. The good thing about LEDs is that you can dim and switch on/off easily, and this raises the importance of sensors.”~#Alan2016

There are currently very few solutions that successfully combine an understanding of the physiological effects of light with efficiency and aesthetics. Recently, a number of governmental and non-governmental organisations have provided interesting publications which should be taken into consideration to help ensure benign, safe, and pleasant lighting in our outdoor environment. 4,5,6

The American Planning Association (APA) recommends outdoor LED lighting exclude wavelengths below 500 nanometers. The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) recommends a CCT of maximum 3000K to minimise sky glow and the American Medical Association (AMA) has issued guidelines recommending that blue-rich light is reduced as far as possible in order to protect Public Health.

The American Planning Association (APA) recommends outdoor LED lighting exclude wavelengths below 500 nanometers. 5 The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) recommends a CCT of maximum 3000K to minimise sky glow and the American Medical Association (AMA) has issued guidelines recommending that blue-rich light is reduced as far as possible in order to protect Public Health. 7,8,9,10 In the UK, Public Health England are recommending that councils use a warm colour temperature for street lights to miminise glare and discomfort. 4 Unfortunately, street lighting is currently exempt from the UK nuisance regulations which limit the effects of light and noise on people. Due to a lack of clear guidelines from Central Government, notably the Department for Transport, councils often opt for blue-rich white LED street lights, thus increasing light pollution.

An example may be taken from the situation on the Isle of Wight, where high CCT LED outdoor lighting has been installed, and there was little or no public consultation nor any trials prior to implementation. 11 Reading Borough Council is currently planning to install streetlights with a CCT of 4000K, which is above the recommended level of 2700K, despite awareness of Public Health England having advised otherwise. 12 In contrast, best practice of lighting implementation can be found in Cardiff and Westminster Council. In 2014, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) sent out a survey which collected responses from over 80 local authorities. CPRE has published a document which provides 9 key recommendations based on this evidence and other evidence directly collected by CPRE. 6

The scientific understanding on the visual and non-visual effects of light forms a strong basis of the recommendations to minimise glare and to minimise spectral intensity below 500nm from artificial night time light.1,2,3,13,14,15,16

In 2014, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) sent out a survey which collected responses from over 80 local authorities. CPRE has published a document which provides key recommendations based on this evidence and other evidence directly collected by CPRE:

“It should be clear to planners that outdoor lighting has a multitude of often detrimental effects on the built and natural environments as well as on our health. If existing standards are not adjusted to account for the spectral characteristics of the LED lighting being created and promoted by the lighting industry today, we could, ironically, be faced with higher levels of light pollution, glare, and overlighting…The choice is clear: we can use responsible standards to guide lighting design, or we can continue to allow uncontrolled lighting to degrade our quality of life and negatively impact human health and ecology. Planners have important roles to play in making the former scenario a reality in their communities.” – Bob Parks, APA 5

“Local authorities should give careful consideration to the type of LED lighting they use and consider the potential impacts that higher temperature blue rich lighting has on ecology and on human health… New street lighting should be tested ‘in situ’ before a lighting scheme is rolled out across a wider area to ensure that it is the minimum required for the task and does not cause a nuisance to residents.” – Emma Marington, CPRE 6

The scientific understanding on the visual and non-visual effects of light forms a strong basis of the recommendations to minimise glare and to minimise spectral intensity below 500nm from artificial night time light.

Innovation; promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all, ensuring decent job creation and equal access for all to economic and productive resources and opportunities; preventing land speculation; and promoting secure land tenure and managing urban shrinking where appropriate.

Effective, innovative, and sustainable financing frameworks and instruments, enabling strengthened municipal finance and local fiscal systems in order to create, sustain, and share the value generated by sustainable urban development in an inclusive manner.

Innovation, entrepreneurship, inclusion, identity and safety, and the dignity of all people, as well as to foster livability and a vibrant urban economy.

Develop vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive urban economies, building on endogenous potentials, competitive advantages, cultural heritage and local resources, as well as resource-efficient and resilient infrastructure, promoting sustainable and inclusive industrial development, and sustainable consumption and production patterns, and fostering an enabling environment for businesses and innovation, as well as livelihoods.

(Providing the labor force with access to income-earning opportunities, knowledge, skills and educational facilities that contribute to an innovative and competitive urban economy.) NON-SUSTAINABILITY Para 56

Promote an enabling, fair, and responsible business environment, based on the principles of environmental sustainability and inclusive prosperity, promoting investments, innovations, and entrepreneurship.

Adopt a smart city approach, which makes use of opportunities from digitalization, clean energy and technologies, as well as innovative transport technologies, thus providing options for inhabitants to make more environmentally friendly choices and boost sustainable economic growth and enabling cities to improve their service delivery.

Integrated planning that aims to balance short-term needs with long-term desired outcomes of a competitive economy, high quality of life, and sustainable environment. Strive to build in flexibility in our plans in order to adjust to changing social and economic conditions over time. Implement and systematically evaluate these plans, while making efforts to leverage innovations in technology and to produce a better living environment.

National, sub-national, and local governments to develop and expand financing instruments, enabling them to improve their transport and mobility infrastructure and systems, such as mass rapid transit systems, integrated transport systems, air and rail systems, and safe, sufficient and adequate pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and technology-based innovations in transport and transit systems to reduce congestion and pollution while improving efficiency, connectivity, accessibility, health, and quality of life.

Protective, accessible, and sustainable infrastructure and service provision systems for water, sanitation, and hygiene, sewage, solid waste management, urban drainage, reduction of air pollution, and storm water management, in order to improve safety against water-related disasters, health, and ensure universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all; as well as access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all; and end open defecation, with special attention to the needs and safety of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. Seek to ensure this infrastructure is climate-resilient and forms part of integrated urban and territorial development plans, including housing and mobility, among others, and is implemented in a participatory manner, considering innovative, resource efficient, accessible, context specific, and culturally sensitive sustainable solutions.

Leveraging cultural heritage for sustainable urban development, and recognize its role in stimulating participation and responsibility, and promote innovative and sustainable use of architectural monuments and sites with the intention of value creation, through respectful restoration and adaptation.

The implementation of the New Urban Agenda requires an enabling environment and a wide range of means of implementation including access to science, technology, andinnovation and enhanced knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, capacity development, and mobilization of financial resources, taking into account the commitment of developed countries and developing countries, tapping into all available traditional and innovative sources at the global, regional, national, sub-national, and local levels as well as enhanced international cooperation and partnerships among governments at all levels, the private sector, civil society, the United Nations system, and other actors..

Call on businesses to apply their creativity and innovation toward solving sustainable development challenges in urban areas, provide financial support, including through innovative financial mechanisms, to programmes and projects to implement.

(International multilateral financial institutions, regional development banks, development finance institutions, and cooperation agencies to “provide” financial support, including through innovative financial mechanisms, to programmes and projects to implement the New Urban Agenda, particularly in developing countries.) NON-SUSTAINABILITY Para 142

Need for enhanced cooperation and knowledge exchange on science, technology and innovation to the benefit of sustainable urban development, in full coherence, coordination and synergy with the processes of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism established under the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and launched under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Recognize the significant contribution of voluntary collaborative initiatives, partnerships and coalitions that plan to initiate and enhance the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, highlighting best practices and innovative solutions including by promoting co-production networks between sub-national entities, local governments and other relevant stakeholders.

Development of national information and communications technology policies and egovernment strategies as well as citizen-centric digital governance tools, tapping into technological innovations, including capacity development programmes, in order to make information and communications technologies accessible to the public, including women and girls, children and youth, persons with disabilities, older persons and persons in vulnerable situations, to enable them to develop and exercise civic responsibility, broadening participation and fostering responsible governance, as well as increasing efficiency.

Science, research, and innovation, including a focus on social, technological, digital and nature-based innovation, robust science-policy interfaces in urban and territorial planning and policy formulation, as well as institutionalized mechanisms for sharing and exchanging information, knowledge and expertise, including the collection, analysis, standardization and dissemination of geographically-based, community-collected, high-quality, timely and reliable data, disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, 21 ethnicity, migration status, disability, geographic location, and other characteristics relevant in national, sub-national, and local contexts.

Here we show, using a carbon?nitrogen model that includes permafrost processes forced in an unmitigated warming scenario, that the future carbon balance of the permafrost region is highly sensitive to the decomposability of deeper carbon, with the net balance ranging from 21 Pg C to 164 Pg C losses by 2300. Increased soil nitrogen mineralization reduces nutrient limitations, but the impact of deep nitrogen on the carbon budget is small due to enhanced nitrogen availability from warming surface soils and seasonal asynchrony between deeper nitrogen availability and plant nitrogen demands. Although nitrogen dynamics are highly uncertain, the future carbon balance of this region is projected to hinge more on the rate and extent of permafrost thaw and soil decomposition than on enhanced nitrogen availability for vegetation growth resulting from permafrost thaw. This is grave!!!